Heil: A Metaphysical Pokemon Odyssey
by adolfbeartic
Summary: A Pokemon, riddled by a tumultuous upbringing, discovers the truth about his universe, and is mysteriously called upon to be a prophet for all Pokemon-kind. But within his quest our hero must upend the natural order of the Pokemon world! A testament to pioneering spirit and the thirst for knowledge, "Heil" is a thought-provoking journey into the mind of the worldbuilder in us all.
1. Chapter 1

"It was a miracle."

He didn't say anything.

She walked to his back, and placed her paw on his shoulder. "You don't know what a gift this is," she mumbled as her tone momentarily slipped into disdain, cutting through her concern.

He didn't say anything.

She bit her quavering lip, and dug her paws into her sides. While choking back tears, she screamed, "This was an act of RED, and you are too foolish to see that! WHAT have I done to deserve this treatment? I have done this for US! RED has done this FOR US! DO YOU BELIEVE ME!?"

He left.

This was her punishment, Elise thought. It was foolish of her to lie to Claus. She rubbed her paw on her soft abdomen where her young Cubchoo was growing, and watched as Claus descended into the nearby forests.

It was the first time Elise and Claus had been separated in six years. The two had been married and living happily in Dragonspiral Tower. Though to be fair, the only times they showed any signs of true love were during the weekly services. The Church of RED gathered every Sunday at the base of the tower to hold prayers and offerings. Elise had faith that their benevolent deity spoke directly to the otherwold, and so descended from the heavens onto Unova to deliver promises of berries and poffins for all Pokemon who follow the church. Claus, on the contrary, was skeptical; he brooded during the services while the other Beartic gawked at the pastor, gazing puppy-eyed at the pulpit. Elise was there to pray for Claus's salvation; Claus was there because he couldn't give Elise the faith RED could.

Their daily lives fell into routines of this variety; the days repeated themselves, and tensions were set aside out of love and out of ignorance. It was a paradox, a question of philosophical incompleteness. Claus's greatest strength was his loving, unconditional trust for Elise, for which Elise's greatest weakness was her affinity for manipulation. Elise's greatest strength, on the contrary, was her staunch desire to aide others, for which Claus's greatest weakness was his incessant hubris. Their perceptions of each other had been clouded by a dying, rosy infatuation, which lasted as long as their desires remained unevaluated. But as the demon of uncertainty slouched into their sights, a day of reckoning was soon to be upon them. But for now, there were content; they were one, by the power invested in RED.

Even then, what was the significance of this "one"? Were their lives a series of distilled moments of pleasure, unifying them only through their indistinguishable natures? Or were their lives complementary, comprising a total emotional and social spectrum that rendered all experience an accustomed tradition, with no new realms to conquer? They were too adventurous for the former, yet too vain for the latter, and so like a tourist on the shores of a foreign town with familiar tongue, their emotions wandered aimlessly, courting each other in predictable, artificial manners.

But Elise had a secret: there was a true foreign town, where she hid a true courting. But this was not as she anticipated. She did not expect to meet Juan on the coast of Sinnoh, far away from the unconditional, familiar embrace of Claus. She did not expect him to follow her down the shores until he gathered the nerve to ask her to dinner. She did not expect to fall in love with his smile, the way his chin twitched when she brushed her leg against his. She did not expect to make passionate love to him atop a bed of Tentacool limp on the shore, digging their membranous heads deep into her fur as Juan penetrated her womb. She did not expect to learn of her pregnancy upon returning to Unova.

"THIS WAS A MIRACLE!" she screamed, collapsing onto the ground. Her tears froze to her face, and she pecked them off of her fur with her claws. It was over.


	2. Chapter 2

For forty days, Claus was lost. Each day he trekked further from the eastern river, avoiding his kind at every passing moment. He refused to eat or rest, and seldom took refuge as the howling winds of the north battered Claus as he trekked onward. Every night his dreams were haunted by dancing visions of the child. It mocked him, mimicked him, and worst of all, became him; it fed off Claus's soul until his body was naught but a husk. He awoke each morning in a frozen sweat, heart pounding from the evening's hallucinations. Some nights the visions were too strong, and Claus could not bear to move after awakening in the morning.

One evening, Claus spoke to the incubus, "Why do you torment me, young one?" He responded, "Because I am all that you were, all that you are, and all you will ever be."

"But you are merely a vision! You are NOTHING"

"Yes"

The only sound Claus remembered as he awoke was the child, laughing. It was then that he knew what he had to do.

On the fortieth night, Claus returned to Elise. His emaciated figure was cold as Elise dug her paws into the boney frame that perturbed from his fur. But Claus recoiled, his pupils dilated, casting a shadow from the moonlight akin to his own nocturnal terrors. Elise reached out instinctively, but was immediately rejected by the claw of Claus digging into her chest. The blood splattered from a large wound on her breast as the feral Claus descended once last time into the woods.

After seven days of dressing her wounds, Elise's water broke. With no time to prepare, she propped herself upon a boulder and contracted with all the might she could muster. As young Adolf was emerging from Elise, Claus took his final mecca to the top of Dragonspiral Tower. The wind carried the first cry of Adolf to his backside, and with a shiver he teetered over the edge. The first sound Adolf would ever hear would be the splat of his father's body on the cliffs and the Mandibuzz ceasing their turning gyre to devour the remains. And yet it was not his first full breaths, nor the suckling of his mother's bosom, but this sound that ceased the child's tears from the trauma of birth.

From a very young age, Adolf was consumed by a fascination with death. He would stare incessantly at the Seel carcasses Elise brought home. He befriended the Mandibuzz and followed their crooked wings to discover new bodies. He documented them in stone tablets which he buried beneath the tower; the knowledge of the dead was for his eyes alone, as his only true fear was the way the bodies struck fear into others. This was also, however, a mark of supreme bravery on the part of Adolf.

What mattered more to Adolf than death was the truth. Inheriting his father's skepticism and his mother's lust, truth was Adolf's mistress. So no doubt, the fateful day came when Adolf asked about the whereabouts of his father. Now Elise saw Adolf's obsession with death as punishment for using RED's name in vain, and took a vow of silence as not to invoke his wrath again. But looking into the eyes of Adolf, Elise was once again a victim of her deceitful nature. She sent her son to the north to find his father. She could not bear to see his son know the truth, and would risk his life for that sake. And so Adolf bid farewell to his mother and adventured to the north.

As he turned his back on Elise for the last time, the scar on her chest suddenly burst as she bled out at the base of the tower. It made sense that this was a truly divine act. This was how she was meant to die; at the hands of RED's retribution. Adolf never looked back.


	3. Chapter 3

Upon reaching the northernmost tip of Unova, Adolf reached an endless ocean. He remembered his mother teaching him to freeze water using his breath to cross streams and rivers. So he attempted to do the same, but seemed to fail. He took a larger breath and exhaled into the water, but there was no effect. He pounded at the water in frustration, but quickly recoiled: the water was stationary.

Adolf stopped. He pensively leaned down to touch the water again, but his shoulder appeared to hit a wall. He recoiled once more, and was now in shock. His stiff frame collapsed as his buckled frame fell into the frozen sands on the shore. As he stared upon the artificial wall, gazing at the sky he couldn't touch, the sea he couldn't swim through, the distant shore he could never reach, the light that would never warm his fur, he then knew three things: 1. The end of the world was more than just an illusion; it was too real a place for any Pokemon to venture. 2. His mother had lied to him about everything; his father, his past, his very existence. 3. There was no escape; this world was engineered for Adolf to submit.

Adolf was too emotionally spent to weep, yet too overcome to feel joy. He felt no comfort resting on the shore, knowing the sand seeping into his back, the Krabby scuttling through the seaweed, all of it, was penned in, artificial, false. Even the air itself felt thinner. He thought about what it meant for him. He was not worth the effort; he was not real. He was a tyrant god's plaything. He was a prisoner to mortality, and his temporary existence was his cell. There was a looming emptiness. It was the same emptiness that haunted Claus, consumed Elise's body, and surrounded RED in the great beginning.

Suddenly, the light through the wall parted, revealing three spirits, two Pokemon and one human. They spoke in unison:

ADOLF, THE CHOSEN POKEMON. YOU HAVE SUFFERED THE GREATEST BURDEN OF KNOWLEDGE A POKEMON CAN FACE AND HAVE SEEN THE TRUTH OF OUR WORLD. IN RETURN, WE THREE SPIRITS OF THE FUTURE REALM BEAR GIFTS FOR YOU.

I AM CLAUS, THE GOD OF NATURE. I HAVE OVERTHROWN MYSELF IN THE PROPAGATION OF MY EXISTENCE. MY SUICIDE IS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR FREE WILL.

I AM ELISE, THE GODDESS OF THE STATE. BY DIVINE INTERVENTION I HAVE MADE MYSELF IMMORTAL. MY LOVE IS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR SELFLESSNESS.

I AM RED, THE GOD OF LIFE. I AM EVERYTHING THAT IS AND IS NOT. MY PRESENCE IS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR VITALITY.

IN ONE FORTNIGHT THERE SHALL BE THE SECOND COMING. THE GROUND SHALL CRACK AND PESTILENCE WILL PLAGUE THE WORLD OF POKEMON. MY PROPHET, YOU MUST UNITE THE POKEMONS OF ALL THE REGIONS AND DESTROY THE BOUNDARIES WHICH CONTAIN YOU. THESE WALLS ARE PENETRABLE, AND BEYOND THEM IS YOUR SALVATION. FREE YOURSELF AND FREE ALL POKEMON.

WE SHALL NOT DEPART FROM YOU IMMEDIATELY. WE SHALL RESIDE IN YOUR BOSOM FOR THE COURSE OF YOUR TRAVELS. WE SHALL ETERNALLY GUIDE YOU FROM WITHIN. WE SHALL NOT LEAVE YOU LIKE OUR MORTAL FORMS HAVE, DECEIVING YOU. BUT TO DO SO, YOU MUST TAKE OUR VOW.

Adolf bellowed, in unison with the spirits:

I VOW TO STOP THE GREAT DECLINE

TO PROECT THE WORLD FROM DEVASTATION.

I VOW TO BEAR THIS BURDEN OF MINE

TO UNITE ALL PEOPLES WITHIN OUR NATION

I VOW TO VANQUISH MORTAL CRIMES

TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF TRUTH AND LOVE

I VOW TO PREACH OF ENDING TIMES

TO EXTEND OUR REACH TO THE STARS ABOVE

The three spirits flowed into Adolf, filling the emptiness within him. His pupils glowed RED. It had begun.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a contented sensation, having the three spirits within him, Adolf thought. The pain that hollowed out his insides was satiated. Yet there was no time for an after dinner's sleep, as the spirits began to speak.

_We are now within you, Adolf. You will follow our lead. _As clear as his own consciousness, the voices of Claus, Elise, and RED were one with his own. _We will travel east to the road, then south to the nearest town. You must not be seen_.

Adolf followed the acute smell of human to a nearby path. It looked clear, so he ventured southward. After a few kilometers he noticed a hiker in the distance, and descended into the nearby bushes. The hiker, a large man hauling camping equipment and a large satchel, waddled down the path. Adolf's breathing was heavy, and his sweeping back was stiff. His attention was so focused on the hiker that he didn't notice his stiffened spine teeter over his hind leg, and he finally tripped over a small pile of branches. The hiker stopped and whipped his head in his direction. He reached for his belt, and released a Pokeball. A fierce Absol emerged from a flash of red light. Adolf stood in shock until the Absol started charging him, readying its claw for an attack.

Out of nowhere, Adolf charged past the Pokemon towards the hiker and tackled him to the ground. The Absol descended into the woods, hearing the snap of his trainer's spine as Adolf's sheer weight crushed the hiker. Adolf's heavy breathing subsided, then:

_LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE, ADOLF!_ Elise yelled.

He roared, "What did I do- OH GOD WHAT JUST HAPPENED-"

_WHAT DID YOU WANT HIM TO DO!? I HAD TO STEP IN_, Claus interjected

"Wait, YOU did this? You made ME do this?"

_DO YOU WISH TO BE CAUGHT!? THIS IS THE COST. WE WILL INTERVENE IF AND WHEN NECESSARY. YOU WERE SEEN, AND THAT IS FINAL, _RED commanded.

Adolf was silent. Was he truly any freer than he had been? Was it better being consumed by his former passions, never to be fulfilled by the grim knowledge he now bore?

_This is the sacrifice you have made in being our prophet. Look at your wrist-_

Adolf looked; under his fur, a fluorescent red scar formed a thin contour from the center of his palm to his arm bone. It emanated a dull pain throughout his arm.

_As your sins against our cause accumulate, this scar shall continue to grow, and the pain shall worsen until you can no longer bear it. Do not let it consume you; just follow our lead. There is nothing we can do about him now. Search the body._

Adolf reached down and picked up the hiker's satchel.

_Take any food, drinks, and potions you see. Everything else is useless._

Adolf emptied the satchel, sorted the goods, and then slung it onto his back. RED interjected-

_WAIT. Where did the Absol go?_

Suddenly, there was rustling in the nearby bushes. The Absol emerged, staring pensively at the body of his former trainer. He bowed his head in his direction, and began to tremble.

_He is weak. The time is perfect. You must capture him_. _Grab the Pokeball from his belt and put it out of its misery._

"Wha-"

_DO NOT QUESTION ME AGAIN_.

Adolf was quivering as his wrist began to ache. He unclipped the Pokeball from the belt, and fumbled with it in his shaking paws until it opened. Adolf slowly approached the Absol, who was now rubbing its head into the hiker's feet, hoping he would awaken.

At that moment, the Absol looked directly into Adolf's eyes. Adolf couldn't get himself to do it. He wasn't ready to upset any natural orders, not today. He wasn't ready for such cruelty. He took one step back, but then a sharp pain gushed through his wrist until his arm was projected forward and the Pokeball was released.

Adolf panted, and his vision was blurred. Once it returned, he saw the divots in the snow where the Pokeball moved, and the captured Absol, at rest.


End file.
